


The Story of the Lonely Little Zamboni

by ICanSeeClearlyNow



Series: The Best Grandparents [1]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Bedtime Stories, Fluff, Grandchildren, Grandparent Victor, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Happy Ending, Onsen On Ice, SO MUCH FLUFF, Zamboni angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2019-04-21 21:54:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14294286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ICanSeeClearlyNow/pseuds/ICanSeeClearlyNow
Summary: The Lonely Little Zamboni is one of Yuki's favourite bedtime stories as told by her wonderful Gan'dad Victor.“Please Gan’dad.” Yuki looked up into Victor’s eyes from where she was cradled in his arms as they lay back on the bed. Puppy eyes had always been Victor’s undoing, and these were some of the best puppy eyes he’d seen.





	The Story of the Lonely Little Zamboni

**Author's Note:**

  * For [topcatnikki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/topcatnikki/gifts).



> You should definitely read this in a "reading young children a bedtime story" voice.

“Gan’dad?”

“Yes, Zaichik?”

“Will you tell me the story of the lonely little zamboni?”

“Again? I told you that story last night too.”

“Please Gan’dad.” Yuki looked up into Victor’s eyes from where she was cradled in his arms as they lay back on the bed. Puppy eyes had always been Victor’s undoing, and these were some of the best puppy eyes he’d seen.

“Very well, but this is the last story for tonight. You need to go to sleep after this one. Promise?”

“Yes Gan’dad.” His granddaughter said in a resigned voice. Victor chuckled and kissed her on the top of her head. He drew a deep breath and began.

“Once upon a time there was a lonely little zamboni.  It sat in the maintenance area for hours at a time, longing for company. Every day the driver would come and sit on the zamboni and it would be happy as it was guided around the ice rink, smoothing out all the dents and scratches in the ice making it perfect once again. After a chance to empty its tank of ice, a few pats and a check over, the driver would leave and the zamboni would let out little clinks and creaks as it cooled in it’s dark, lonely space.

“It could sometimes hear the joyous shrieks of children from the ice during the week, and the weekends were when people would skate all day and it could listen to them playing. Even more rare were the times when the stands were filled with hundreds of people and the zamboni could hear their excited cheers for the skaters. The driver would come to the little zamboni in the middle of it all and the people would cheer as it joyfully made its way around the rink cleaning, polishing and resurfacing the ice. Those were the happiest days and it remembered them with a little hiss of it’s tyres when it was feeling lonely.

“The years passed by and the ice rink became less and less busy and the zamboni was never taken out to have people cheer it on while it made the ice sparkle. The children’s voices came less frequently and the zamboni grew even sadder.

“Then, one day, the driver came into the shed, and spoke to the zamboni. ‘Well little one, it looks like you might see the outside of this shed more often from now on,’ and gave the zamboni a pat on the side as he leapt up into the seat.

“The zamboni was so happy to be out on the rink with its driver, but it wondered why they would be busier, the rink was still very quiet. Then it noticed three people at the side of the rink, one was tall with silver hair and one was short with blonde hair. But the one it noticed most of all was the man with the scruffy black hair who had stopped coming to the rink years ago. It had watched him grow up from being a tiny human and it had missed him when he didn’t come any more. It remembered when it had given the boy a ride a long time ago. He was a cute little human who bounded up and down with excitement on the old driver’s lap.

“The ice rink became busier, the zamboni heard children’s voices more often. The driver was happier, it could tell.

“‘Well little guy, we’ve been so busy I haven’t been able to look after you as much as I’d like to.’ The driver said with a pat to the side of the zamboni. ‘I’d better give you a spruce up now that you’re going to be famous.’

“Famous? The zamboni didn’t know what that meant. Did it mean more times when the zamboni would be out on the ice with people cheering it on? The little zamboni let out a small gurgle of excitement from its water tank. The driver spent the next few hours with the little zamboni, rubbing it down with wire wool and spraying on a new coat of paint. The little zamboni wished that it could see itself, it felt all sparkly and new. Its driver had even painted a face on its front, the zamboni knew this because the driver talked to it all the way through and described the happy face he was painting.

“‘We’ve got to have you looking perfect for the show,’ the driver was saying. ‘They’re going to be here soon.’

“The zamboni was wondering who his driver was talking about when it heard voices coming closer to the doors of its space.

“‘OK, I guess that will have to do.’ The driver gave the little zamboni one final polish as a whole crowd of people came into the zamboni’s room. There were the two new people it kept seeing in the morning when it resurfaced the ice and a large number of other very noisy people, but the one the little zamboni paid most attention to was the quiet dark haired man. Ever since he had come back the little zamboni and the ice rink had been busier than ever. The man walked over to the zamboni and reached out a hand to trace the painting.

“‘Nishigori! Wow, it looks amazing! I didn’t know you were such an artist. Is this the same zamboni from all those years ago that your dad used to give me rides on?’

“‘Yeah! It’s a good little machine.’ The little zamboni gurgled with pride at his driver’s words.

“‘It’s going to be perfect for the show!’ The one with silver hair bounced over to the driver clapped him on the back with a big heart-shaped smile on his face.

“The other people all piled in with compliments and after they’d left, its driver gave it a final polish.

“‘You’ll do.’

“The next day the zamboni could hear the rink getting busier, people had been rushing around and shouting all day. It had made the ice perfect first thing in the morning and when its driver drove it out of the doors to give a final coat to the rink it could see that the whole rink had been transformed. There was a platform at one end with decorations all over. People were still running around as its driver closed the doors with an ‘I’ll be back later, when it’s your big moment.’

“The little zamboni sat listening to the noise of the crowd in the rink. It could see lights flashing and different colours just like in the old days when the rink use to host shows. It couldn’t help but feel excited even though it knew it wouldn’t get to see anything. Just once, it thought, just once I would love to see what’s going on outside my room.

“The little zamboni couldn’t believe it when the driver came in and climbed up into the driving seat, the doors were thrown open and the driver drove the zamboni out at full speed! They played a game with a giant ball and chased the skaters all over the ice. The crowd cheered for the little zamboni and after it had chased them all off the ice, it stopped in the middle of the rink. The driver stood up and took a little bow and all the skaters came back on and posed with the little zamboni for photos and the little zamboni had never been so happy in all its life.

“At the end of the day, the little zamboni was left in its shed to sleep, but it didn’t feel lonely anymore. It felt like the most important zamboni in the whole world.”

Victor looked down at Yuki. Her eyes were closed and he could tell that she was sleeping, she had heard this story so many times she could probably tell it herself. He reluctantly unwound her arms from round his chest and tucked her into bed with her teddy bear.

“Goodnight, my little one. Sleep tight.” Victor left Yuki to dream of the little zamboni happily whirring around.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to [Callasyndra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/callasyndra/pseuds/callasyndra), and [zupsgirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fraulein_Zupan/pseuds/Fraulein_Zupan) for looking it over and to [Suonjar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suonjar/pseuds/Suonjar) for the enabling!
> 
> This goes with my grandparents story that I have yet to publish.


End file.
